Man of Steel: More Superman Characters Revealed?

The decision to feature General Zod as the villain in Zack Snyder’s Supermanreboot Man of Steel is the latest development to divide fans over the direction of the film. Coupled with the news that Superman’s origin story will be revisited to some degree, many have declared that Snyder should be more concerned with breaking new ground, rather than revisiting elements we’ve already seen explored in previous cinematic outings.

I was also hoping for a villain we’d never seen on screen before, but I really don’t think we have to worry about Superman: Man of Steel resembling past Superman adaptations – or Snyder utilizing the character of Zod the same way that Richard Donner did. Regardless, Snyder once dismissed Zod’s involvement as nothing more than hearsay – so does the Kryptonian outlaw’s inclusion in the film lend some credibility to a few other rumors as well?

Latino Review certainly thinks so. They’ve been in touch with a trusted source (the same one who told them that Kevin Costner was going to play Jonathan Kent, and that Zod was definitely the villain), who shared a few more notable details on Man of Steel. Back in February, it was suggested that Zod’s cohort Ursa would also appear in Superman: Man of Steel. As it turns out, there might be some truth to that report – there will be a female Kryptonian villain, but she’ll be called Faora and not Ursa.

Ursa’s depiction in Superman and Superman II was based on the character of Faora from the comics. Created during the Silver Age by Cary Bates & Curt Swan, Faora ran a concentration camp for men where she tormented and tortured her prisoners before sentencing them to death. In Post-Crisis DC Comics continuity, she became a follower of Zod’s but was renamed Zaora. The character has gone through several other permutations (and names) since then, but the fundamental aspects of her personality have remained largely the same.

When Edgar Ramirez was rumored for a villainous role in Superman: Man of Steel, I speculated that a character resembling the brutish “Non” might turn up as well. Personally, I’d be rather surprised if Zod didn’t have at least one other accomplice in the film in addition to Faora.

LR‘s source also reveals that Jor-El and Lara will definitely be making appearances in Man of Steel and that the planet Krypton will be reminiscent of the Coruscant skyline from Star Wars. They also mention that Daniel Day-Lewis was considered for the role of Jor-El and not Zod.

I know that there are some of you out there who are going to think that Man of Steel is sounding more and more like a remake of the first two Superman movies, but like I said earlier – I think this might wind up being like a comparison between Jack Nicholson’s Joker and Heath Ledger’s. It may contain a copious amount of familiar aspects, but I’m confident that (for better or worse) Snyder will present them in a brand new way.

To me, Kryptonian villains do make a lot of sense for an origin story – thematically speaking, that is. I understand the “been there, done that” attitude that many fans have expressed – and there’s definitely no shortage of other compelling Superman adversaries. For now, I suppose we just have to trust that this wasn’t an arbitrary decision and that Snyder and co. picked the antagonists that best complimented Clark Kent”s character arc in the film.